From war to permanent violence: the authoritarian immanence of ai-based security technologies

Abstract

The use of technologies based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support martial and policing strategies has grown significantly in recent years. AI-based systems are responsible for reshaping conflict strategies, but above all, they have also underpinned models of social control in a counterinsurgency context—where the management of urban environments and social interactions as a means to eliminate radical groups is a central objective. In both applications, however, there is an enormous potential for abuse and intrusion, capable of jeopardizing the safety and rights of individuals and groups. In this regard, the aim of this article is to explore how AI-based technologies are
grounded in authoritarian political immanences, associated with a “caoplectic” phase as pointed out by Bousquet (2022), and thus tend to expand repressive forms and abusive models of promoting violence in conflicts. To this end, we draw on Social Studies of Science and Technology, and studies in the philosophy and history of war, in addition to mobilizing data and information related to AI-based systems with abusive potential. individuals and groups. In this regard, the aim of this article is to explore how AI-based technologies are grounded in authoritarian political immanences, associated with a "caoplectic" phase as pointed out by Bousquet (2022), and thus tend to expand repressive forms and abusive models of promoting violence in conflicts. To this end, we draw on Social Studies of Science and Technology, and studies in the philosophy and history of war, in addition to mobilizing data and information related to AI-based systems with abusive potential.